Hcport"  on    f4oT4"h-Carolinat/ 


f 


Chejnoke&i> 


V 


of  tfje 

®[mber£(it?of  iSortf)  Carolina 


Collection  of  Movti^  Caroliniana 


REPORT 


OF  THE 


tliklaiJI    €:^iiwwlttiri^ 


ON   THE 


NORTH-CAROLIM  CHEROKEES. 


RALEIGH: 

HOLDEN  &  WILSON,  PRINTERS  TO  THE  STATE. 

1859. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/reportofjudiciarOOnort 


Doc.    No.  75.]  [Se8.   1858-'9. 

Ordered  to  he  Printed. 


Holdeu  &  Wilson,  Printers  to  the  St.ite. 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  JUDICIARY. 

The  i  'oaimittee  on  the  Judiciary,  to  which  was  referred  a 
bill  to  amend  an  act  passed  at  the  session  of  A.  D.,  1783,  and 
which  secured  to  the  North-Carolina  Cherokee  Indians  a  per- 
manent home  in  the  State,  have  had  the  same  under  consid- 
eration, and  authorized  the  following  report  to  be  made  there- 
on. The  committee  recommend  striking  out  all  after  the  enact- 
ing clause,  and  inserting  amendment  marked  A. 

The  bill,  as  amended,  recognizes  the  right  of  the  council  of 
the  North  Carolina  Cherokees  to  exercise  police  regnlationa 
over  their  own  people  to  the  extent  exercised  by  incorporated 
towns  and  cities,  agreeably  tc  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the 
State,  and  confines  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  1783,  to  the 
lands  owned  by  said  Indians,  and  which  they  may  acquire  by 
purchase,  adjacent  to  the  hunting  grounds  reserved  under  the 
treaty  of  1791,  on  the  Iron  or  Smoky  Mountain,  in  the  nor- 
thern portion  of  Jackson  and  Macon  Counties,  including  in 
the  right  to  purchase,  the  widow  and  children  of  the  late  Jun- 
.aluska.  It  also  makes  provision  for  the  escheated  property  of 
the  Indians,  to  be  applied,  under  the  direction  of  the  council, 
to  the  advancement  of  education  and  civilization  among  theijr 
people. 

The  committee  have  deemed  it  proper  to  refer  to  an  act 
and  resolution  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State 
of  North-Carolina,  in  relation  to  those  Indians,  as  well  as  to 
treaties  concluded  with  their  tribe,  under  which  a  large  por- 
tion of  their  lands  were  ceded  to  the  United  States  for  thfi 


2  Document  Iso.  75.  [Session 

"benefit  of  I^ortli-Carolina,  and  as  construed  and  settled  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  I^^orth-Carolina,  as  well  as  by  the  acts 
of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  as  expounded  by  the  Attor- 
*Bey-General. 

By  the. act  of  1783,  the  State  of  North-Carolina  not  only 
acknowledges  the  title  of  the  Cherokees  to  the  lands  claimed 
'by  them  within  her  limits,  but  actually  guaranteed  the  title 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  to  them  a  permanent  home  withm 
her  limits.  After  reciting  the  boundary  of  the  lands  of  the 
North-Carolina  Cherokees,  the  act  contains  this  guarantee  of 
residence  and  title  :  "  The  lands  contained  within  the  afore- 
said bounds_  shall  be,  and  are  hereby  reserved  to  the  Cherokee 
Indians  and  their  nation  forever."  In  1808,  the  tribe,  as 
shown  by  the  preamble  to  the  treaty  of  1817,  be,  and  are  di- 

l  Vided  into  upper  and  lower  towns,  the  former  embracing  the 
'towns  within  the  limits  of  the  grant  made  to  the  Cherokees 
*'tinder  the  act  of  1783.  The  upper  towns,  embracing  the 
North- Carolina  Cherokees,  sent  a  deputation  to  Washington 
City,  to  represent  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  tlie 
"desire  of  their  people  to  "  engage  in  the  pursuits  of  agricul- 

'*ture  and  civilized  life,"  and  to  remain  permanently  in  the 

■^country  they  tlien  occupied,  while  the  lower  towns  desired  to 
remove  West,  "  where  game  was  more  plenty."  The  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  after  maturely  considering  the  pe- 
titions of  both  parties,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1809,  answered 
the  Cherokees  as- follows  :  "Tlie  United  States,  and  the  friends 
"of  both  parties,  and  as  far  as  can  be  reasonably  asked,  are 

'  Villing  to  satisfy  the  wishes  of  both.     Those  who  remain  may 
'"'ke  assured  of  our  aid  and  good  iieighTjorhood.''''     [See  recital  ia 

**%he  preamble  to  the  treaty  of  1817.]  During  the  war  of  1812y 
■fjie  Creek  tribe  of  Indians  espoused  the  cause  of  Great  Britain, 
"snd  the  Cherokees  took  up  arms  in  behalf  of  the  United  States. 
At  the  battle  of  Horse  Shoe,  Capt.  Junaluska,  and  his  warriors, 
are  lepresented  as  having  fought  bravely,  and  saved  General 
Ja-kson's  army  from  being  cut  off  and  massacred  by  the 
i0r  -ek  Indians.  This  led  to  the  policy  of  circumscribing  the 
limits  of  the  North-Carolina  Cherokees,  to  make  room  for  the 
white  settlements  and  allow  them  to  become  citizens.     And 


18o8-'9.]  Docui^iENT  No.  75.  3 

the  principal  consideration,  and  the  onlv  one  given  by  the 
State,  was,  acqniesence  in  the  provisions  of  the  8th  article  of 
the  treaty  of  1817,  extended  by  the  2nd  article  of  the  treaty 
of  1819.  Under  the  8th  article,  provision  was  made,  not  only 
to  secure  to  the  Cherokees  a  permanent  home,  but  to  elevate 
them  to  the  high  privilege  of  becoming  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  "And  to  each  and  every  head  of  an  Indian  family, 
residing  on  the  East  side  of  the  Mississippi  river,  on  the  lands 
that  are  now,  and  may  hereafter  be  surrendered  to  the  United 
States,  who  may  wish  to  become  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
the  United  States  agree  to  give  a  reservation  of  six  hundred 
and  forty  acres  of  land,  in  a  square,  to  include  their  improve- 
ments, which  are  to  be  as  near  the  centre  thereof  as  practica- 
ble, in  which  they  will  have  a  life  estate,  with  a  reversion  itt 
fee  simple  to  their  children  reserving  to  the  widow  her  dowcT, 
the  register  of  whose  names  is  to  be  filed  in  the  office  of  tha 
Cherokee  Agent."     [See  Book  of  Indian  Treaties,  page  213.] 

Of  the  North-Carolina  Cherokees  now  remaining  east,  a 
large  portion  is  represented  to  have  availed  themselves  of  this 
privilege  ;  and  Quallatown,  in  the  county  of  Jackson,  is  rep- 
resented to  be  situated  on  one  of  those  reservations  granted 
to  a  Cherokee  by  the  name  of  Jacob. 

In  consequence  of  a  part  of  the  reservations  not  havinoj 
been  located  before  the  State's  surveyors  surveyed  and  sold 
out  the  territory  acquired  by  the  Cherokee  treaty  of  1817  and 
1819,  a  conflict  of  title  arose  between  the  reservees  and  tlio 
purchasers  of  the  State's  title,  which  was  finally  decided  hy 
the  Supreme  court  of  the  State,  wlien  the  right  of  the  Indian 
to  citizenship  and  to  his  reservation  of  land  was  sustained  hj 
the  court.  (See  decision,  Euchella  vs.  Welch,  3rd  Hawks, 
page  155.) 

In  the  opinion  of  the  court,  delivered  by  Chief  Justice 
Taylor,  it  is  stated  "  the  prevalent  policy  before  the  revolu- 
tion was,  to  consider  the  Indians  as  persons  capable  of  bein* 
treated  with,  and  holding  property  as  a  tribe  or  nation.  Tlieir 
right  of  property,  though  much  circumscribed  by  the  repeat- 
ed cessions  they  have  made  by  treaty,  was  respected  as  to 
what  remained,  and  much  solicitude  is  shown  in  repeated  en- 
actments to  restrain  the  cupidity  of  the  whites.'' 


4:  Document  No.  75.  [Session 

"  In  pursuance  of  this  policy,  the  people  of  this  State,  when 
they  throw  off  their  colonial  dependence,  and  declared 
the  soil  to  be  the  property  of  the  community,  were  not  un- 
mindful of  Indian  rights  :  Provided  always,  that  this  declara- 
tion of  right  shall  not  prejudge  any  nation  or  nations  of  In- 
dians, from  enjoying  such  hunting  grounds  as  may  have  been 
Becured  to  them  by  any  former  or  future  Legislature  of  this 
State." 

Since  the  treaty  of  peace,  by  which  the  territorial  limits  of 
the  State  were  acknowledged  in  full  sovereignty,  as  they  form- 
erly belonged  to  the  mother  country,  it  has  b-.en  the  invaria- 
ble object  of  the  United  States,  and  of  this  State,  to  regulate 
their  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  not  by  any  speculative 
notions  of  right  which  they  might  have  exercised  without  vio- 
lating any  adn>itted  principle,  but  by  the  dictates  of  a  just 
and  humane  and  liberal  policy.         *         %         -x-         *         -k- 

"  Of  the  policy  of  this  State,  the  act  of  17S3,  C.  185,  under 
which  the  plaintiff  claims  title,  affords  a  conclusive  example. 
By  this  act  it  is  declared  that  the  Cherokee  Indians  shall  have 
and  enjoy  all  the  tract  of  land  therein  described,  and  that  is 
yeserved  to  them  and  their  nation  forever.  The  effect  of  this 
grant  was,  to  vest  the  land  in  the  nation  in  fee  simple  ;  it  con- 
veyed to  them  a  specific  and  definite  right,  accoi'ding  to  which 
they  were  no  longer  to  be  considered  as  tenants  at  sufferance, 
but  as  holding  under  the  faith  of  the  State,  and  the  guaran- 
tee of  the  declaration  of  rights.^  '^  *  * 

"  If  this  grant  required  confirmation,  it  has  received  it  in  the 
most  ample  manner  by  the  treaty  of  Hopewell,  1785,  made 
under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  and  by  the  treaty 
of  Ilolstein,  1791,  b3>'  which  the  lands  not  ceded  by  the  Clie- 
rokee  nation  are  solemnly  guaranteed  to  them. 

"  In  this  state  of  things  the  two  treaties  were  made,  under 
which  the  plaintiff  claims  the  land  described  in  the  declara- 
tion as  liaving  been  set  off  and  allotted  to  him,  and  located 
according  to  the  terms  of  the  treaties,  1817  and  1819. 

"The  eighth  article  of  the  first  treaty  provides  that  a  reser- 
vation of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  shall  be  given 
to  every  head  of  an  Indian  family  residing  on  the  east  side  of 


1858-9.]  Document  No.  75.  5 

the  Mississippi  river,  the  register  of  whose  names  sliall  be  filed 
in  the  office  of  the  Clierokee  agent.  The  land  is  to  ])e  laid 
ofi*  in  a  square,  including  their  improvements,  which  are  to 
be  as  near  the  centre  thereof  as  practicable,  in  which  they 
will  have  a  lite  estate,  with  a  reversion  in  fee,  to  their  chil- 
dren, reserving  to  their  widow  her  dower;  by  the  second  ar- 
ticle of  the  latter  treaty,  it  is  provided  that  a  reservation  of 
six  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  shall  be  allowed  to  each 
head  of  an  Indian  family  residing  within  the  ceded  territory, 
wlio  choses  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  in  the 
manner  stipulated  in  said  treaty. 

"The  only  manner  stipulated  in  the  treaty  of  ISIT  is  thafc 
the  Indians  wlio  wish  to  become  citizens  sliall  register  their 
names  in  the  office  of  the  Cherokee  agent.     *         *         ■'^' 

"As  the  United  States  have  alone  the  power  of  making 
ti-eaties,  their  acts  within  the  limits  of  their  authority  must 
be  obligatory  on  tlie  State,  tlieir  constituent.  They  might, 
unquestionably,  have  extinguished  the  Indian  title  to  the 
whole  tract,  in  which  case  the  right  to  the  whole  would  have 
reverted  to  the  State.  Why  then  may  they  not  extinguish 
the  title  to  a  part  ?  The  stipulations  of  treaty  are  equally 
binding  on  both  parties,  and  it  was  not  to  have  been  expected 
that  an  acquisition  so  valuable  could  have  been  made  to  the 
State  without  some  equivalent.  The  reservations  are  more 
entitled  to  respect  since  they  further  the  policy  of  the  State, 
in  leading  the  few  Indians  that  remain  to  an  agricultural  and 
civihzed  state." 

In  1835-'36,  another  treaty  was  concluded  with  the  Chero- 
kees  of  Georgia,  after  the  extension  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
State  over  them,  and  it  is  represented  that  the  North-Carolina 
Cherokees  were  neither  present  or  parties  to  that  treaty,  and 
knowing  their  opposition  to  it,  a  clause  was  inserted,  which 
appears  to  have  been  intended  to  reconcile  that  portion 
of  the  tribe  to  the  cession  of  their  lands,  by  extending  to  them 
the  provisions  of  the  treaties  of  1817,  and  1819,  to  permit 
such  as  were  opposed  to  removal  west,  to  reside  permanently 
in  the  country.  The  article  referred  to,  is  in  the  following 
words : 


^  Document  IsTo.  76.  [Session 

"  Those  individuals  and  families  of  tlie  Cherokee  nation, 
that  are  averse  to  a  removal  to  the  Cherokee  country,  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  are  desirous  to  become  citizens  of  the 
States,  where  they  reside,  and  such  as  are  qualified  to  take 
care  of  themselves  and  their  property,  shall  he  entitled  to  re- 
ceive their  due  portion  of  all  the  personal  benefits  accruing 
imder  this  treaty  for  their  claims,  improvements  and  per  capita 
as  soon  as  the  appropriation  is  made." 

Shortly  after  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  the  ]!^orth-Caro- 
lina  Cherokees,  it  is  represented  memorialized  the  General 
Assembly  of  Noi-th-Carolina,  and  represented  therein,  that 
it  was  their  intention  to  remain  permanently  in  their  native 
country,  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  State,  and  requested  some 
law  to  be  passed  for  their  protection,  to  take  effect  after  the 
removal  of  the  Cherokees  of  Georgia  was  to  have  been  com- 
pleted, under  the  provisions  of  the  treaty.  This  i?  presumed 
to  have  led  to  the  passage  of  the  following  act: 

"  Be  it  further  enacted^  dtc,  That  all  contracts  of  every 
nature  and  description,  made  after  the  eighteenth  of  May, 
one  thousand  and  eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight,  with  any 
Cherokee  Indian,  or  any  person  of  Cherokee  Indian  blood, 
within  the  second  degree,  for  an  amount  equal  to  ten  dollars 
©r  more,  shall  be  null  and  void,  unless  some  memorandum 
thereof  be  made  in  writing,  and  signed  by  such  Indian  or 
iome  person  by  him  authorized  in  the  presence  of  two  credit- 
able witnesses  who  shall  also  subscribe  the  same.  (See  act  of 
1836-37.) 

In  consequence  of  the  Federal  Government  having  failed 
to  extend  to  the  i^^orth-Carolina  Cherokees  all  the  personal 
benefits  of  the  treaty  of  1835-'6,  application  was  made  to  the 
General  xVssembly  for  the  passage  of  a  resolution  in  their  fa- 
vor, which  received  the  unanimous  approval  of  both  Houses. 

RESOLUTIONS    EELATING   TO    THE    CHEKOKEE   INDIANS. 

^^  HesoJved,  Tluit  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Con- 
gress of  the  United  Srates.  are  hei-eby  requested  to  use  their 
influence  in  favoi*  of  obtaining  a  settlement  of  the  just  claims 
€f  the  Cherdkee  Indians  residing  in  this  State,  &c. 


1858-'9.]  Document  No.  75.  K 

"  Resolved  further^  That  his  Excellency,  the  Governor,  be 
requested  to  send  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  to  our 
Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress. 

"  Read  three  times  in  the  General  Assembly,  and  ratified 
the  8th  of  January,  1846." 

EDWARD  STAKLY, 
Speaker  of  the  Commons. 
BURGESS  S.  GATHER, 
Speaker  of  the  Senate. 

After  tiiis,  an  appeal  in  favor  of  the  Xorth-Carolina  Chero- 
kees  was  made  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  wb(\ 
referred  the  subject  to  the  Attorney  General,  who  on  the  19tli 
of  Septeml)er,  1848,  among  other  subjects,  gave  the  follow- 
ing opi)iion  on  a  question  submitted  by  the  Pi-esident  of  tli© 
United  States.  "  3.  Whether  the  treaty  of  1835,  made  witlj^ 
the  Cherokee  Indians  of  Georgia,  does  or  does  not  convey  ta> 
the  United  States  the  lands  granted  to  the  Xorth-Carolina  In- 
dians by  the  act  of  1783 ;  whether  the  powers  of  the  Chero- 
kees  as  a  nation  had,  or  had  not,  ceased  to  exist  at  the  tinie^ 
the  treaty  of  December,  1835,  was  concluded,  in  consequence 
ot  the  tribe  having  passed  under  the  dominion  of  the  State.'^j 

The  other  three  questions  may  be  solved  into  three  inquiries;. 
Whether  the  lands  in  North-Carohna  belonged  to  the  North- 
Carolina  Indians  residing  on  them,  these  lands  have  been 
sold  by  the  State  of  North-Carolina,  and  are,  I  presume,  ii^ 
the  possession  of  the  purchasers.  As  the  Executive  of  the. 
United  States  would  have  no  power  to  divest  those  in  posses- 
sion, and  the  question  is  one  for  the  judiciary,  I  have  deem- 
ed it  necessary  to  express  my  views  upon  the  hard  measures 
which  seem  to  have  been  dealt  out  to  the  North-.Cai-olina  In- 
dians, whose  lands  have  been  sold  while  they  have  received 
no  corresponding  benefit.  (See  oj)inion  of  the  Hon.  Jno.  Y. 
Mason  of  the  19th  of  December,  1845.) 

In  1850,  the  North-Carolina  Cherokees  were  embi-aced  ia 
the  census,  and  formed  a  part  of  the  population  of  this  State, 
and  of  the  United  States,  on  which  the  members  in  tlie  Gen- 
eral Assembly  and  in  Congress  were  apportioned.  (^See  cen- 
sus on  file  in  the  State  Department.) 


8  Document  T^To.  75.  [Session 

Subsequently,  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  raised 
the  question  as  to  the  right  of  the  Government  to  affect  the 
right  of  the  North-Carolina  Cherokees  to  remain  in  their  na- 
tive country,  by  witholding  the  payment  of  money  due  to 
them,  which  was  referred  to  the  Attorney-General  of  the  II. 
States  for  his  opinion  thereon.  The  quotation  from  the  argu- 
ment in  their  favor,  and  the  decision  of  the  Attorney-General, 
serve  to  explain  the  attachment  of  these  Indians  to  their  na- 
tive country,  and  their  right  to  remain  under  the  provisions 
of  the  treaties. 

In  speaking  of  the  condition  of  the  North-Carolina  Chero- 
kees, and  the  country  occupied  by  them,  it  is  stated — 

"That  country  is  endeared  to  those  Indians  by  the  graves 
and  sacred  relics  of  their  ancestors ;  the  bones  of  their  child- 
ren, sisters,  brothers,  fathers,  and  mothers,  lie  there  ;  they 
•ay,  "We  cannot  leave  them  ;  let  us  alone  in  the  land  of  our 
Withers.  Why  ask  us  to  remove  West  ?  We  once  owned  all 
•tiie  land  that  could  be  seen  from  the  tops  of  our  highest  moun- 
lains ;  vrill  you  not  permit  us  to  enjoy  in  peace  the  small 
quantity  we  have  purchased  ?"  They  ask,  "Where  are  our 
brothers,  who  were  forced  from  the  mountains  of  North- 
Carolina?  Two-thirds  have  been  buried  on  the  road  to  Ark- 
ansas, and  in  that  sickly  country.  Where  are  the  Ridges  and 
Boudinots,  who  were  promised  the  protection  of  the  United 
States  ?  Have  the}-  not  been  massacred  ?  Their  blood  cries 
from  the  ground.  Where  are  the  midnight  assassins?  Have 
they  not  been  pardoned  by  the  Cherokee  Government,  with- 
ont  trial,  contrary  to  both  law  and  treaties?  Will  you  then 
fffik  us  to  remove,  and  join  a  Government  too  weak  and  too 
Bnjust  to  protect  us,  and  leave  a  State  where  our  lives, 
liberties,  and  property,  are  secured  ? — where  our  rights  to  re- 
main are  guarantied  by  solemn  treaties  ?"  "  ' 

Fortunate  for  the  Indians,  in  the  office  of  the  Attorney-Gen- 
eral was  found  too  high  a  regard  for  justice,  and  the  sacred  ob- 
ligations of  ti*eaties  to  favor  the  policy  proposed  by  the  reputed 
Father  of  the  red  man  of  the  forest,  as  the  opinion  demon- 
strates : 

"  Question  fourth :  '  If  any  of  the  Cherokees  who  have  not 


1858-'9.]  Document  No.  75.  9 

removed  west  of  the  Mississippi  river  are  entitled,  may  they 
be  required  to  emigrate,  as  a  condition  precedent  to  their  be- 
ing paid  V  Answer :  The  treaty  of  1835,  article  twelve,  con- 
ceded the  rights  of  individuals  and  families  of  Cherokees,  who 
were  averse  to  the  removal  to  the  Cherokee  country,  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  to  remain  east,  and  to  receive  their  due  por- 
tions of  the  money,  to  be  distributed  per  capita.  The  treaty 
of  1846,  article  ten,  recognized  these  claims  of  the  Cherokees 
then,  at  the  date  of  the  treaty,  residing  east  of  the  Mississippi 
river.  On  this  subject  I  have  hereinbefore  expressed  my 
views.  To  require  these  Indians,  so  residing  east  of  the  river 
Mississippi  at  the  date  of  the  treaty  of  August,  181:6,  to  re- 
move to  the  Cherokee  country  west,  as  a  condition  precedent 
to  their  being  paid  their  dividend  jP^'r  capita  of  the  balance  of 
the  purchase  money  for  the  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi  river, 
ceded  by  their  nation  to  the  United  States,  would  be  without 
any  authority  of  law,  and  a  breach  of  the  faith  of  the  treaties 
of  1835  and  1846,  as  I  think  and  tirmly  beheve." 
Very  respectfully,  yours,  &c., 

JOHN  J.  CRITTENDEN. 
April  11, 1851. 

Under  the  administration  of  President  Buchanan,  the  poli- 
cy of  the  federal  government  in  relation  to  the  Indian  tribes 
has  undergone  a  change,  and  instead  of  removing  the  Indians 
from  place  to  place,  the  policy  now  is  to  permit  them  perma- 
nently to  remain  in  those  localities  to  which  the  associations 
of  their  youth  and  the  graves  of  their  sires  so  much  attach 
them,  and,  where  they  may,  by  the  association  and  moral  in- 
fluence of  refinement,  gradually  emerge  from  savage  into 
civilized  life.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  not  probable 
that  the  State  of  North  Carolina  would,  at  any  time,  violate 
her  plighted  faith  to  the  North  Carolina  Cherokees  in  permit- 
ting them  to  remain  permanently  in  their  native  country ; 
but,  if  a  different  policy  should  at  any  time  prevail,  then  the 
Cherokees  would  have  the  right  to  appeal  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  to  enforce  their  rights  to  perma- 
nent residence  as  guaranteed  by  the  treaties  of  1817,  1819 


10  Document  Ko.  75.  [1858-'9. 

and  1855,  and  it  would  very  probably  result  in  an  application  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  which  has  jurisdic- 
tion of  all  questions  arising  under  treaties,  and  the  result 
might  not  only  prove  injurious  to  the  purchaser  of  the  State's 
title,  but  in  the  end,  injurious  to  the  State.  For  the  reasons 
herein  contained,  to  which  the  committee  have  given  much 
investigation,  they  instruct  me  to  report  the  accompanying 
bill  and  recommend  its  passage. 

WM.  J.  HOUSTON, 
Chairman  of  Committee. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ^.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032203712 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
^HE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


